


A splash of cold

by Chainmaildragon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 13:04:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15841881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chainmaildragon/pseuds/Chainmaildragon
Summary: They only wanted to take advantage of a free afternoon. But when a harmless splashing in the prefects bathroom takes a turn for the worse, James needs his friends more than ever. Mild hurt/comfort, Marauders era.





	A splash of cold

The winter of their sixth year was so cold the lake had been completely frozen for more than two weeks. The students had taken to wearing coats and scarves even in their common rooms and their breath formed clouds wherever they talked. 

“I can’t believe Marleen would do something so mean!”, grumbled Sirius next to him while they climbed out of the portrait hole. “All I did was lift her skirt a little bit, you couldn’t even see her underpants…”  
James grinned at his antics. “You did it in the great hall while reciting the weather forecast!”, he pointed out.  
“I simply wanted to make sure she knew how to dress appropriately for the cold! And this is how she repays me!”  
As Marleen’s skills in transfiguration rivaled his own, Sirius now displayed a nose three times as big as before and complained of having bad eyesight.  
“I finally know what you’re going through, Prongs. Being impaired like this, deprived of seeing all the beauty of this world in full clarity…” Sirius sighted and tried to wriggle his hands into Remus’ warm jumper.  
Remus swatted him away but couldn’t contain a grin. “I agree, your life is so much worse than everyone else’s. And keep your bloody icicles to yourself!”

James relished in this easy conversation with his friends. The last few weeks he had been torn between studying, Quidditch practice and prefect duties. He really deserved a free afternoon! (Poor Peter had been assigned to help feeding the animals in the forbidden forest to make up for his bad grades in Care of Magical Creatures).  
Together, they entered the damp, warm hallway of the best place Hogwarts had to offer this time of the year: The prefects’ bathroom.  
They were not the only ones. He saw a group of splashing Hufflepuffs and two Ravenclaw girls in matching blue bikinis that just stepped out of the changing room. 

Sirius tore off his robes, revealing short golden swimming trunks and instantaneously jumped in, spraying the annoyed Ravenclaws. Remus and James followed in a more orderly fashion. It was heaven. The water was warm and multicoloured and he felt the stress of the last weeks slowly dissolving.  
They played around for a bit, then started a diving competition. James just came up for air when he heard “Lily! Over here!” Crap. James tried to stop Remus from shouting and waving, but too late.  
“Hello Remus”, she shouted back, ignoring James. He was used to this treatment from her. She wore a plain white bathing suit and started chatting with Remus. Even without his glasses, a blurry Lily Evans in a swimsuit was a remarkable sight. It didn’t change the fact that he wished he could “see all the beauty in full clarity”.  
Despite his large nose, Sirius flirted quite successfully with the Ravenclaws, while the Hufflepuffs brought out a waterball. They seemed to have transferred their Quidditch training inside for today. 

“Hello Lily”, he tried but among the shouting Hufflepuffs between them, she did not hear him. Dejectedly, he swam to the side of the pool to relax a bit. He inhaled deeply and went back under water, where everything was calm and peaceful. Just as he closed his eyes and something heavy came crashing down on him. His system was suddenly in overdrive. With bubbles all around, he could only rely on instinct while pushing upward. Just then, the large body above him twisted, stretched and hit James directly in the face. His head snapped back, hitting the tiles behind him.  
He couldn’t see, his heart pumped in his ears, his lungs screaming for air. His arms and legs flailed wildly, searching for anything to hold on to. There was nothing but water. A strange tingling sensation spread through his body. He vaguely heard someone screaming his name. Then, nothing.  
…

He came to violently; coughing and spluttering, while someone pounded on his back. “Come on, breathe! Jamie! Oh bloody hell!” Sirius. He had never heard Sirius so distressed.  
James lifted his head. Blurry faces all around him and a lot of confusing noise. His nose hurt like a bitch, but he tried to focus. “So you do care!”, he told the blackhaired blob with the huge nose. It came out croaked and made his head pound even more. Sirius laughed but it sounded horribly forced. 

“Is that blood?” “Someone get help!” “I am so sorry!” Voices floated all around him. Hands were everywhere, on his face, back, legs.  
“Everyone back off! Give him some air!” Someone shouted behind him.  
Air did sounded lovely if a bit hard to come by. His throat burned like fire. Slowly, the voices became softer and the hands disappeared. The world became clearer as he could breathe a little easier.  
Evans face appeared in front of him and pushed his glasses on his face. For once, she didn’t look annoyed.  
“Do you know what happened?”, she asked.  
“Someone fell on me?”, he tried hoarsely.  
He vaguely felt Remus wrapping a towel around his shoulders.  
“You were standing in the goal of the keeper, and when he tried to get the ball, you were in the way”, Evans explained. She looked a bit calmer now. “We didn’t realize at first, but then Sirius saw you and Rico got you out of the water.” She gestured to the large Hufflepuff who looked close to tears and immediately shouted: “I’m so so sorry!”  
“Madam Pomfrey is coming. Do you think you can get off the wet floor?”, Evans asked, still in that soft voice he’d never really heard before.  
The back of his head suddenly hurt and reflexively, he touched it. His hand came away wet and bright red and he felt nauseous all of a sudden. Sirius tightened his hold on him. “Shit, are you ok, Prongs?”.  
“See, I told you there was blood!”, someone said from a distance.  
They got him onto a bench. While the movement almost made him barf, it felt very nice sitting on a dry blue towel instead of the wet floor.  
Madam Pomfrey arrived in a flurry of ropes and had his wound cleaned and wrapped in mere seconds. A few diagnostic spells later she announced: “You have been very lucky, Mr. Potter. You have a slight concussion and your nose is likely to be sore and swollen for the next few days but your lungs seem mostly clear. I would like to keep you in the hospital wing overnight –“  
“No!” Everyone looked at him and he felt his face go warm. It wasn’t that he disliked Madam Pomfrey, but the thought of hospitals was unbearable at the moment. He felt his heart speed up and the nausea increased. He’d spent enough time in one over Christmas.  
His mother had been stable when he left, but being in St. Mungos for more than three weeks for a simple case of “Dragon Pox” would worry even the simplest minds. Because of the ongoing cold, the owls couldn’t fly and no news about his mothers’ frail health could reach the school. He couldn’t stop worrying that something might have happened to worsen her condition.  
He drew himself up and held in the cough threatening to give away how poorly he was still feeling. “I feel much better, can’t I sleep in my bed?” James gifted the nurse with the most dazzling smile he could muster.  
Evans watched at him with an unreadable expression and opened her mouth.  
“We’ll take good care of him!”, Sirius said as innocent and serious as he could manage. He was still in his golden trunks, had blood on his arms and wet black hair sticking in all directions, but his voice was firm.  
To their surprise, Madam Pomfrey looked at Evans. “You’re a prefect, aren’t you?”, she asked her. The girl nodded. “If you can guarantee that Mr. Potter will get some rest, I’ll let him sleep in his own bed, given he comes in for a checkup tomorrow.”  
James saw Sirius and Remus nodding fervently while Evans still held his gaze. “Yes, we’ll take good care of him”, she said firmly and Madam Pomfrey looked relieved, while already putting on her bag again. “Good, good, with everybody suffering from the Dragon Pox, we really don’t have any free beds… See you before class, Mr. Potter.”  
As soon as the door closed, he let out the coughs he’d been holding in. “Are you sure about this?”, Remus asked concerned.  
“Let’s just go”, James said, without really answering the question.  
He got dressed without any other problems but when they stepped out of the bathroom, the cold air hit him like an icy wave. He coughed repeatedly while the four of them trudged along the deserted hallways.  
“Merlin, that was so scary!”, Sirius moaned, “Why can’t you look where you’re swimming, you idiot! Getting kicked in the head, what the hell.... Ruined my date with those lovely ladies, too!” There was only a slight waver in his voice. “And even if I don’t really see, I still saw you! Damn, how bad is your eyesight if you can’t see this huge keeper and –“  
Remus punched Sirius’ shoulder. “Stop it! He will be alright, won’t you Prongs?”  
James was fine, absolutely, nothing to worry about. If only his stomach could behave for once and his legs were a bit steadier. His head, nose and guts seemed to throb at the same speed and it made him dizzier by the minute. He tried smiling brightly at his friends. “Sure, I’m fine!”  
Evans walked silently on his other side, her wet hair framing her face. She looked cold and sneezed from time to time. It sounded a bit like his cat, James thought idly. If Evans was cold, so she needed warmth, he reasoned and started digging for his wand.  
As he looked down into his bag, black spots spread around his vision and his stomach heaved. His fingers found the smooth wood, but waving the spell instantly worsened everything. Just as Lily looked around to find the source of warmth, his knees gave out. He fell, but his friends were by his side in an instant.  
“James – äh, Potter”, Evans shrieked, while pushing him up with her small body.  
“So, not fine, I assume”, Remus said drily, while Sirius helped him put his head between his knees. He closed his eyes and balled his fists, willing himself not to throw up right on the spot.  
“I’ll be alright”, James said after a minute. “I feel just a bit dizzy.” To his surprise, Evans took his hand and squeezed it. Then she handed him a glass of water. The nausea receded slowly.  
“Well, concussions would do that to you, mate”, Sirius said, “I better carry you for the rest of the way. We’re almost at the common room anyway.”  
Despite the nausea and urgent desire to be lying down, he did not like this. “You don’t have to carry me!”, he protested weakly. “That’s so embarrassing!”  
“Sirius is right, though”, Lily said. She seemed amused for a reason. She also looked a lot warmer than before, which satisfied him greatly.  
He still didn’t want to be carried, although just thinking of all the remaining stairs made him shudder. Instead, he looked at Remus for help.  
“I might have an idea how you can avoid this assault to your ego, which obviously is so much worse than almost drowning and having a concussion”, his friend answered good-naturedly.  
So it came that James was piggybacked into the common room by Sirius. Before that, someone conveniently dispatched several smoke bombs which made Gryffindors flee in all directions.  
He would never forget the gleam in Lily’s eyes as she climbed out of the portrait hole, smoke billowing behind her and ordered the students to tell her who by Merlin was responsible for this mess.  
The lingering headache and cough as well as the freezing winter cold disappeared over the next few days.  
As did the untimely apologies of Rico, the enormous Hufflepuff, who would not stop apologizing to James until Gryffindor absolutely devastated Hufflepuff in their next Quidditch match.  
What didn’t stop was the friendship with his guys. Remus silently offered his best chocolate and Sirius tried and failed not to show his emotions. Peter was responsible for telling the school that James got knocked out while trying to fight a Grindeloh that found his way into the prefects bathroom. Finally, an owl made her way to the common room. The doctors wrote that his mother’s condition was slowly improving and she would be allowed to go home soon. James was so relieved he hugged every person in sight, even Evans. For once, she didn't pull back.  
Also, the lingering little glances Evans sent him when she thought he wasn’t looking were getting longer every day.  


**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first work in ages and I'm not a native English Speaker/writer. Anyway, I still hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
